Ship&#39;s collision preventer and shock absorber



nited States Patent SHlPS COLLISION PREVENTER AND SHOCK ABSORBER Kosmas Skinas, San Francisco, Calif. Application August 15, 1956, Serial No. 604,114 1 Claim. (Cl. 114-219) This invention relates to improvements in a collision preventer for ships.

The principal object of this invention is to cause a precontact between ships that are about to collide so as to partially absorb the shock and to Ward olf a collision which might otherwise do serious damage to both ships, and to minimize the damage which does occur because of such a collision.

A further object is to produce a device of this character which may be attached to any standard ship without materially altering its construction.

A still further object is to permit such a device to be stored during periods of non-use.

Another object is to provide means for quickly projecting the device or devices in the event of an observed possibility of collision, or during fogs when visibility is reduced to a great extent.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specication and in which like numbers are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. l is a fragmentary side elevation of the front of a vessel having my invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a reduced diagrammatic view showing a modied form of my invention;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of one of my devices; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

It is a well known fact that ships collide for several reasons, some of which are mistakes in signals, misjudging currents or lack of headway necessary to avoid a collision. Most often collisions occur because one vessel is unable to see an oncoming vessel because of fog conditions or other atmospheric conditions.

Applicant has therefore devised an arrangement which may be projected from the bow of a boat whenever conditions indicate that it might be possible for a collision to occur. Serious damage is often done to a ship due to the fact that there is a tremendous inertia of a moving vessel, and although a prow of a ship is rather blunt, it cuts into the contacting vessel, due to the small area of contact. Therefore applicant believes that by increasing the area of contact and providing a buffer action at the time of contact and by spreading this point of contact over a considerable area on the vessel being engaged by the bow of another vessel, that instead of the bow having a sheering action, it will have a pushing action and tend to push the other vessel away due to the large area engaged.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 5 designates the hull of a vessel and particularly the bow end thereof.

Referring to Fig. l it will be noted that I have shown a pair of plungers 6 and 7 telescopically extending through the bow of the vessel and each having a plate, as shown at 8, pivotally attached thereto.

Referring now to Fig. 4 it will be noted that the plunger has a spring 9 coiled thereabout, the rear of the spring contacting a pair of semi-circular members l1 and 12 which abut the ends of the cylinder 13 in which the plunger slides. These semi-circular members 11 and 12 are each pivotally attached to the outside of the cylinder by bars 10 and 14, respectively, the purpose of which will be later seen. The rear end of the plunger 6 has teeth 16 which are engaged by a gear 17 whereby the plunger may be manually moved in and out of the cylinder.

The cylinder also carries a piston 18 which is freeriding and may be moved in one direction through hydraulic pressure entering through the pipe 19.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 3, I have shown plungers A and B mounted side by side, as well as vertically, as in Fig. 1. This arrangement permits the plates carried by the ends of the plungers contacting a larger area of surface on the opposing vessel.

The result of this construction is that when a ship is equipped with my device and collision conditions are present, then the plungers are each moved to an outer position either by operating the gears 17 or by applying hydraulic pressure to the pistons 18.

When the plungers and their springs have moved outwardly from the cylinder, then the semi-circular members 11 and 12 are moved from their dotted line position of Fig. 4 to their full-line position behind the end of the spring. Then in the event that a collision does occur, the plate 8 in first contacting the opposing vessel will force the plungers 6 and 7, for instance, inwardly against the springs 9 until the springs have been completely co1- lapsed. At the same time, the rear ends of the plungers will abut piston 18 and force the same rearwardly, thus causing discharge of fluid through the pipe 19 which discharge may be metered so as to further resist the inward movement.

By viewing Fig. 2 it will be noted that the cylinder 13 in each device may be braced in any desired manner, as shown in the dotted diagonal lines in this figure, so that the force of the inward thrust will be dissipated over a relatively large area, thus tending to prevent collapse of the bow portion of the ship.

It will thus be seen that my device accomplishes all of the objects above set forth. It is to be here understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes relative to the material, size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A collision damage preventing means for a marine vessel comprising in combination with a ships hull, a cylinder mounted in said hull, a plunger slidable in said cylinder hydraulic, means for projecting said plunger forwardly from said cylinder, a spring mounted on said plunger and interposed between said cylinder and the forward portion of said plunger when said plunger is in extended position, and semi-circular members pivotally carried by said cylinder and adapted to be interposed between the end of said spring adjacent said cylinder and said cylinder to maintain said spring in extended position, and a collision plate pivotally mounted on the end of said plunger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

